


Pat-A-Cake

by Sdktrs12



Series: Something Gained [5]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Stress Baking, mutually pining idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sdktrs12/pseuds/Sdktrs12
Summary: Favor #3- Party timeBeth preheats her oven and then moves back to her mixer. She measures out the sugar that she will need then starts adding her dry ingredients into the mixer bowl. Rio is leaning back against the kitchen island, arms folded and legs crossed, silently watching her.“Did you come over for any particular reason or...?” Beth flips the mixer on and turns to him, mimicking his posture.He shrugs, “Why don’t you just buy them boxed mixes?” He’s changing the subject, answering a question with a question, and Beth’s eyes narrow; at the subject change and also at his absurd question.“I wouldneverbuy astore brandcake mix.” She makes a face, just the thought of it making her cringe. Rio laughs, shaking his head at her, like he can’t believe how ridiculous she is.And okay-- that’s fair. She knows not everyone can bake. Butshecan. And she makes a damn good cake.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Series: Something Gained [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556221
Comments: 19
Kudos: 123





	Pat-A-Cake

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a big dummy who convinced myself I wouldn't start writing any new fics before I finished this series and the college AU-- and then I saw the 'fic preference' post floating around tumblr and now I've started a Brio road trip fic. Because FML haha.  
> Anyways, this series has 3 more parts and then it's complete!  
> This is a bit of a filler, before these two idiots finally act on their attraction.

Beth steps back and surveys the mess covering every inch of counter space in her kitchen. 

She sighs and wipes at her forehead before opening up various cabinet doors, searching for more sugar. 

Her movements become a little frantic as she looks through every possible space a bag of sugar could be, and finds none. Beth closes her eyes, jaw clenching, as she rubs at her forehead again. 

And really, this shouldn’t come as a surprise since she’s been baking like a fiend all day (the last several days actually) so ( _of course_ ) her baking stock has been sadly depleted.  
And why didn’t she think to go to the store earlier and restock? 

For the exact same reason she’s been baking like a mad woman to begin with—Rio. 

Her mind has been a mess of anxiety and doubt the last two days, since their boxing session at the ( _his_ ) gym. 

She’d come home and freaked out a bit about the fact that _she had actually invited him to come over for sex_ , spent an inordinate amount of time texting out and then erasing several messages to him calling the whole thing off, before finally calming herself down enough to shower and shave and primp a bit before he actually came over. 

Except, then he never did. _He_ had ended up texting _her_ to call it off, citing last minute work that couldn’t wait. 

She thought she would’ve felt a little sense of relief, but all she had felt was disappointment. 

Did he really have work, or did he just have time to change his mind about the whole thing? 

He had seemed pretty confident in what he wanted before she had left the gym, but maybe between then and his text, he had found something ( _someone_ ) better. 

And so, her baking streak had started. It might’ve helped if he’d at least dropped by and offered more of an explanation or just to talk like he normally would, but she hasn’t seen him much, at all, in the last two days. 

Was he avoiding her? 

And with all _that_ on her mind, she’d slipped on her Sisterly and Aunt duties in making Sadie’s cake and cupcakes for her party later today. 

Her counters are covered in pie and cookies and rolls and basically everything _but_ a cake. She has half the cupcakes made and now no more sugar. 

Beth wipes her hands on her apron and starts looking for her keys, ready to make a run to the store, when she hears her front door open.  
She freezes—only one person just waltzes into her apartment unannounced. 

Beth curses under her breath as she thinks about what a mess her place is, what a mess _she_ is, before Rio pops into view. 

“’Ey...” He trails off in his greeting as his eyes dart over the various baked goods spread out across her kitchen. And then they’re on her, taking her in from head to toe and Beth blushes furiously. 

Rio grins, tilting his head to the side as he finishes his visual assessment of her current situation, hands in his pockets, and Beth really wishes he didn’t look so damn adorable when he did that, because she really wants to be mad at him right now. 

“There’s a birthday party later.” She explains lamely, even though he hasn’t even asked anything yet. 

“And you bakin' for a small army?” He teases, stepping closer, hands coming out of his pockets so he can brush her hair out of her face and then his thumb is brushing over her forehead, “Got a little somethin’”, where she’d somehow managed to leave a streak of flour. 

“Thanks.” Beth feels a little breathless at his proximity, and damnit, she really hates how her body reacts to his sometimes. 

“You need any help?” 

And Beth just blinks for a minute, trying to process his offer. 

It’s been two days since they’ve talked and now he’s popping up and offering help like...like he didn’t leave her hanging the other night after implying the promise of _sex_. 

Beth steps away, turning her back on him as she walks back to where her measuring cups and mixing bowls are. She tries to ignore the painful clenching in her chest at his cool attitude. 

She clears her throat as she grabs the empty bag of sugar off the counter, schooling her features before turning and waving it a little at him. “You have any sugar?” 

And he looks like maybe he knows she’s not particularly pleased with him at the moment, rolling his shoulders back a little as he takes another step closer to her. “Elizabeth--” 

She cuts him off, can’t stand to think of him making any more excuses for why he didn’t show up and hadn’t stopped by since, “Cause I'm all out and I have more cupcakes and a whole cake to make still. So, sugar would really help.” 

Rio looks off to the side, jaw clenching as he considers his next move and Beth hopes he takes the hint and just gets her some damn sugar. 

He nods his head, turning back to her with a tight smile. “Yah, I got sugar.” 

He turns and leaves without another word, presumably to get some, and Beth breathes a sigh of relief. 

She hurries over to the bathroom, trying not to cringe as she looks in the mirror and sees what a mess she really is, quickly setting about trying to fix said mess. 

Beth hurries back out to the kitchen when she’s done, measuring out the ingredients she does have while she waits for Rio to come back. 

“So, whose party this for?” He asks when he does come back, dropping the bag of sugar on the counter in front of her. 

“My niece. She’s turning five and it’s a _very_ big deal.” An expression flashes across Rio’s face that has her pausing, but it’s gone so fast she thinks she may have imagined it. “She started kindergarten this year and her whole class is going to be there.” 

Beth thinks about Annie and how excited but also annoyed she was at planning Sadie’s first big birthday party. She’s mostly relied on Beth for suggestions on where, when, and what to serve. Ruby would be helping with the actual food and they’d both promised to help her decorate. 

Rio glances around her kitchen again before settling his attention back on her. “You bakin’ all this for a bunch of five year old’s?” 

Beth can’t help but laugh at the incredulous look on his face. “ _No_ , I’m baking the cupcakes and cake for a bunch of five year old’s. The rest is...” She trails off, trying to think of an excuse for the rest. “It’s for a welcome basket I’m making the new couple that moved in on the first floor.” 

It’s such a lame and obvious lie. She’d need a huge fucking basket to put all this food in and it would be a ridiculous amount to give just two people (plus she’d already made a welcome basket for that couple). But Rio seems to accept this and thankfully moves on. 

Beth preheats her oven and then moves back to her mixer. She measures out the sugar that she will need then starts adding her dry ingredients into the mixer bowl. Rio is leaning back against the kitchen island, arms folded and legs crossed, silently watching her. 

“Did you come over for any particular reason or...?” Beth flips the mixer on and turns to him, mimicking his posture. 

He shrugs, “Why don’t you just buy them boxed mixes?” He’s changing the subject, answering a question with a question, and Beth’s eyes narrow; at the subject change and also at his absurd question. 

“I would _never_ buy a _store brand_ cake mix.” She makes a face, just the thought of it making her cringe. Rio laughs, shaking his head at her, like he can’t believe how ridiculous she is. 

And okay-- that’s fair. She knows not everyone can bake. But _she_ can. And she makes a damn good cake. 

Beth turns her body slightly, grabbing the bowl of butter and slowly adding the chunks of it into the mixing bowl. 

Rio grabs a muffin off the island behind him, tearing a chunk off and popping it into his mouth. He hums his approval as he chews and swallows and Beth grins.  
“My sister likes ta bake too. Always makin’ things from scratch.” 

“It’s the best way.” Beth confirms, loving these random little tidbits he’s gotten in the habit of dropping. 

Beth slowly adds the rest of her wet ingredients, letting the mixer work for a few more minutes before stopping it. 

She grabs her already lined and prepped cake pan and starts pouring the fluffy mixture in. She smooths over and evens it out and then pops it into the oven. She sets her timer and then starts getting the ingredients ready for the rest of the cupcakes. 

“Can you do me a favor?” She asks, not waiting for an answer before continuing, “Can you start icing those cupcakes for me?” She gestures to the cupcakes she’d finished earlier, on the kitchen island behind him. The frosting is already prepped inside the piping bags next to them, piping tip already attached. All he has to do is squeeze the frosting out. Easy. 

You’d think by the look on his face that she’d asked for a blood sacrifice. 

Beth huffs out a laugh, rolling her eyes as she steps up to the kitchen island and grabs the piping bag. 

“Like this.” She says, showing him a simple swirl technique. “Don’t forget the sprinkles.” She reaches around him to grab the small container of sprinkles, ignoring the heat that flashes through her when her body brushes against his. 

Beth quickly moves back over to the other side of the kitchen, starting in on the cupcake mixture. 

They work in silence for a few minutes, and Beth is once again caught up in the domesticity of these moments they have. 

She starts packing away the baked goods lining the counter and island, cleaning up and clearing up space for the rest of the cupcakes and the cake. She’s barely got any room left in her fridge by the time she’s done packing everything away. 

Rio helps a bit with that though, sampling everything that’s within his reach. He’s like a bottomless pit. Another totally unfair thing about him—he can shovel all these carbs into his body and still not have an ounce of fat on him. She can’t say the same about herself. Admittedly, the fact that he goes to the gym and she doesn’t probably plays a significant part in that too. 

Once all the other sweets are packed away however, Beth finds herself with the difficult task of stopping Rio from eating the very cupcakes he’s icing for Sadie’s party. She has to scold him more than once-- not that it does anything to dissuade him. 

The oven timer goes off just as she’s snatching yet another cupcake away from him and she sets it down with a warning look before pulling the cake out of the oven and sliding the new cupcakes in. By the time those cupcakes are done the cake will be ready to be frosted and decorated. 

“You do this a lot?” Rio asks, haphazardly dumping some sprinkles on top of the freshly frosted cupcake in front of him and Beth tries not to wince. She looks over the ones he’s already finished and resists the urge to scrape the frosting off of every single one and start over. How does someone totally and utterly massacre such a simple task? 

“Not exactly a lot. Mostly just for family and friends. I enjoy it.” Beth shrugs as she swipes at the frosting on his last cupcake disaster and the look of utter disbelief he fixes her with makes her laugh out loud. That laughter quickly fades though, when he grabs her wrist and brings her frosting covered finger up to his mouth, licking at and then sucking the frosting off in an absolutely obscene way that has her almost weak at the freaking knees. Time seems to slow down and Beth completely forgets what they were even talking about as her own tongue darts out to wet her lips, her body leaning into him of its own accord. 

“How much time you got before this party?” Rio’s voice is low and husky, his eyes hot on hers, his large hand still wrapped around her tiny wrist. And Beth struggles to remember how to breathe as she registers what he’s implying. 

“I have to help set up before it starts.” She breathes out, his proximity and touch always making it difficult for her brain to function properly. 

“Tha's a shame.” He’s leaning in too, so _so_ close, and the words are out of her mouth before she can even think them through. 

“You could come with me.” 

He stops moving abruptly and Beth realizes maybe that was a mistake. Inviting him to a kids birthday party? Where he doesn’t know anyone? Where all her friends and _family_ will be? How dumb can she be? 

But instead of backtracking, like a sane person, she forges ahead--because apparently, she _is_ just _that_ dumb. 

“I mean if you wanted to, you could come with. Of course, you don’t _have_ to. It’s a kids party but there will be other adults there and knowing Annie, plenty of booze. I don’t know how you feel about kids--” She stops as that same expression from before passes over his features, gone before she knows it, and then he’s moving _away_ from her. Beth’s eyebrows furrow together as she squints at him. “--I guess if you hate them, it’s probably not somewhere you want to be.” she finishes uncertainly. 

Rio huffs out a laugh as he lets her wrist go. “Nah, I don’t hate kids.” He picks up the cupcake she swiped the frosting from and takes a big bite, apparently done talking, and Beth rolls her eyes. How does he make her want to kiss him and smack him all at once? 

She steps away from him, getting the decorations for the cake together to distract herself from whatever the hell had just happened between them. “ _Oh-kay_. Well if you don’t have any other plans, it might be nice to see you outside of this apartment building.” 

Or my apartment for that matter, she thinks to herself. How come they never end up in _his_ apartment? 

The few times she’s swung by his apartment first, they’ve always somehow managed to end up back here anyway. Is that weird, or is she just overthinking it? 

Does he have on of those typical bachelor pads with stuff from one night stands strewn all over? 

Does he have some sort of weird sex room in there? 

“Elizabeth, you thinkin’ too much again.” 

Rio has that infuriating smirk back on his face and Beth glares at him. 

“Your cupcake decorating skills _suck_.” She snaps, just because his face is annoying her just as much as it’s turning her on right now. 

Rio laughs, stunned for a minute by the sudden insult. “ _What_?” 

“Yeah, you are terrible at decorating cupcakes. Luckily they’re only for five year old’s-- who probably would have done a better job themselves, by the way.” 

“Aw, c’mon don’t be like that, Elizabeth. That hurts.” Rio gives a little pout, jutting his lower lip out and Beth hates the sudden urge she has to suck it into her mouth and bite down on it. 

Beth shakes her head, wadding up one of her kitchen towels and throwing it at him. “I hate you.” 

He catches it easily ( _of course_ ) and tosses it onto the island. “Nah. Ya don’t.” He steps toward her, smirk still firmly in place, and Beth lifts her chin up defiantly. 

“ _I do_.” She insists, almost stamping her foot, like a freaking child, but thinks better of it. 

“Elizabeth.” 

“What?” 

He closes the rest of the distance between them. “I _do_ have plans. I’ma actually be outta town for a few days. S’why I came over. Wanted ta let you know.” 

Beth tries not to show her disappointment at that, but her shoulders sag a little despite her best efforts. “Oh. Well, that’s okay. Like I said, it’ll just be a bunch of sugar hyped kids and soccer moms. Not missing out on much.” She jokes, trying to perk herself up. 

“Missin’ out on you,” He huffs out a self deprecating laugh, shaking his head, “Think I'd put up wit a lot to spend time witchu, darlin’.” 

She thinks her heart literally stops beating for a second. “ _Oh_.” She breathes out, unable to formulate a response in her short circuiting brain. 

Rio nods a little, reaching out to tug on a strand of her hair, “You’d have owed me big tho, for all them screamin’ kids.” 

Beth bites back a smile as she swats his hand away. “I still hate you.” 

He laughs at that and Beth does smile then-- his laugh just makes her feel so good. 

When the timer goes off for the cupcakes, she pulls them out and then starts in on the decorations for the cake. Rio leans on the counter, watching her work and praising her skills, making her blush. When the cupcakes have cooled down, Rio helps again, his decorating skills improving greatly with a little help from Beth. 

When they’re all done, he helps her transfer everything into Tupperware containers and then out to her car. 

She leans against her open car door, Rio standing on the other side. 

“Thanks. For helping with that.” She gestures to the containers in her car. 

“No problem, mami. Lemme know when you’re back home.” 

Beth nods, “Let me know when you’re back in town.” she responds, eyes downcast as she nibbles at her lip. 

Rio reaches out and tilts her chin up, swiping at her bottom lip with his thumb. “Stop worryin’.” 

Beth glares at him. That’s easy for him to say, he’s always obnoxiously confident in his actions, doesn't ever seem worried about where the hell this thing between them is headed. 

Rio drops his hand, shoving both of them into his pockets as he steps back, a little smile tugging at his lips at her obvious annoyance. “I’ll see you.” 

And yeah, that seems about right. How they always seem to be ending their interactions as of late. 

Beth nods again, sliding into her car and closing the door. 

She feels like they keep circling around each other, neither one of them able to fully commit to taking that next big step toward the other. 

Will it ever happen? 

Beth sighs as she starts her car, glad that she’s on her way to see Annie and Ruby, because she needs some serious advice, ASAP.


End file.
